In 2021, the "Lobby" was the permanent representation of Urban Practice at the Alex - across from the Red City Hall and under the Stadtwerkstatt Mitte.
Between October 2021 and January 2022, this site evolved into a hub of Urban Practice. Here, urban practitioners met with accomplices, other urban political movements, neighbors, and administrators from all departments.
In the “lobby”, practitioners exchanged ideas, the test cell for a future Büro für urbane QuerschnittsaufgabenKnowledge circulated between administration and practice, strategies were spun, neighbors stumbled into the lobby, projects evaluated their impact, city makers sketched urban futures, curious people drank coffee, authors read about urban inclusion, the Initiative Urbane Praxis wrote its manifesto … And always on Tuesdays from 18: 00, the “lobby” (respecting the SARS-CoV-2 basic protections) with the format of the “Tuesday Bar” was open to all who had their own ideas on how to use a lobby.
Instead of waiting to see what the coalition negotiations mean for the future of Urban Practice, we started working on that future right away! In a collective effort, a rich bouquet of actions was created between October 2021 and January 2022 to make the relevance of Urban Practice tangible, arguable and designable. We created a low-threshold, interdepartmental space that our city needs: to appropriate, to negotiate, to argue, to make plans, to share, to ask questions and find answers.
The result is a prismatic image of a tested future: a long-term structure of urban practice, politically supported by local experts, that insists on the right of everyone to produce everyday artistic space.
The “lobby” was only possible thanks to the efforts of many urban practitioners. Our thanks go to:
die gesamte Initiative Urbane Praxis (AG Urbane Praxis des Rats für die Künste, Baupalast, Berlin Mondiale, CoCooN, Floating U̶n̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶t̶y̶, Haus der Statistik, Pilot Stadtwerk mrzn, station urbaner kulturen / nGbK Hellersdorf, ZK/U)AKöR, AKS Gemeinwohl, Er(be)leben, Fahrrad 3000 / Karawane, Parkraum, freiraumlabor, Gecekondu Plus, Gena Frauengruppe, Kairo Kiosk, ON/OFF, Operation Himmelblick, Organismendemokratie, Pool Potentials, THF Radio / Mobile FM, Transformation Haus und Feld, Urbane Liga, Vernetzungstreffen Rathausblock, Yann Colonna (Palmenforscher), Zusammenküche / Paula Erstmann